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Cumbrian business tycoon fined £500 for speeding

A business tycoon has been fined after admitting speeding and dangerously overtaking other vehicles on a main road.

Philip Day

Philip Day, owner of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill chain, told Dumfries Sheriff Court that he was speeding to get home after hearing his daughter had collapsed and was to undergo a brain scan.

The court heard that Day was under stress, working 18 hours a day, and that his wife had decided not to tell him of the scan in advance.

But during a business conference last February his personal assistant gave him the message about his daughter, Kirsty, a medical student.

Day, of Edmond Castle, near Corby Hill, told the court: “It came as a complete shock – I wanted to be there with her and I didn’t think I put any other road user at risk at any time.”

He admitted speeding on the A7 at up to 83mph near Canonbie, and overtaking vehicles unsafely when his view was restricted by spray. But when he arrived home he found that the medical appointment had been pre-booked.

His wife Debra said that Kirsty had a blackout the morning before they were due to go to hospital in Newcastle, and that she was concerned about driving her daughter in case she became ill again.

Mrs Day said: “The brain scan was arranged but because of the stress my husband was involved in with the takeover I hadn’t told him of the appointment.”

Counsel Ian Duguid QC told the court that Day thought the incident was a medical emergency and just wanted to be with his daughter. He said that Day’s work involved driving up to 25,000 miles a year.

Sheriff Kenneth Ross pointed out that Day could have phoned his wife to make sure of the situation before setting off.